Thru hike question

[rdaviskiwi]

I know I am splitting hairs here but here goes
I am planning a thru hike march 29,2012. I am taking a week off in October to do a week on the trail from the approach to Helen, ga.
Is it appropriate to start in march where I leave off in October and still be considered a thru hike.

[IrishBASTARD]

NO its not a Thru hiker...does NOT start and walk away. Regardless you will be considered a section hiker...sorry but thru Hikers are just that doing it once A-Z. If we considered people who jumped off the trail and back on...my Father would be a thru hiker forty four years after leaving the trail. Its just not done if anyone says its ok...their wrong. Section hiking is just that you do a section and leave...thru hiking is start to finish in one trip.

[Hooch]

NO its not a Thru hiker...does NOT start and walk away. Regardless you will be considered a section hiker...sorry but thru Hikers are just that doing it once A-Z. If we considered people who jumped off the trail and back on...my Father would be a thru hiker forty four years after leaving the trail. Its just not done if anyone says its ok...their wrong. Section hiking is just that you do a section and leave...thru hiking is start to finish in one trip.

First, the ATC makes no distinction between a section hiker and a thru hiker for purposes of accounting for those who have obtained 2000 miler status. Therefore, the "title" of thru hiker or section hiker is only for the OP's own conscience. Hence, if the OP considers it to be a thru hike, then it is. If not, then it's not. In all honesty, who gives a crap what others think? A 2000 miler is a 2000 miler, regardless of how long it took to do the trail.

[IrishBASTARD]

However ATC may be the power behind the AT it is not the only grouping power out there...without the Hikers ATC would not exist in its form. Thru hikers do it A-Z and section hikers sections at a time...thats it nothing more or less. Its a true challange for people to thru hike...both mentally physically as well as monetery wise. Section hiking is hard be it depending on how long your on the trail...and miles covered. Thru hiking is a mental challange that requires alot of mental strength...its lonely from what I have heard...few o's less you shutdown and walk away. Thats why I am trying to do my thru and finishing in one time...to say for myself "I DID A THRU OF THE AT". One never knows the situations of others all I know is I am going to give it a try...and wish your section hike all the luck as well.

[Fog Horn]

For me personally I would want all my miles in the same year in order for me not to count it as section hiking in my own head, but with your dates you'll have it all in a fiscal year, so maybe? Its up to you, really. The ATC gives you the title of a 2000 miler regardless if it takes you four months or forty years.

I don't imagine anyone is going to ask you for your exact dates either. I mean, they'll say "how long did that take you?!" but you could just add the two totals together I guess.

[IrishBASTARD]

The problem with Fog horn is it does matter four months or forty years...the A.T is ever changing it rises and falls like a great ocean. When my Father had hiked it times were differnt than now...packs and overall gear. You can say you thru hiked but lets me blunt...you would be lying to yourself. In all honesty why even take that week off...try to finish it and have fun.

[Hooch]

In all honesty why even take that week off...try to finish it and have fun.

There are lots of reasons one may need to take a week off the trail. Injury, death in the family, a wedding and the list goes on and on.

[4eyedbuzzard]

The only people that really care whether you do it 2000 miles all at once, or 100 miles at a time - or never at all - just don't have enough important things to worry about.

[ekeverette]

i go along with fog horn. it's your hike. i'm going to try to go from point a to z. hope i make it. i hope you make it to, good luck!

[IrishBASTARD]

Also the question was would he be considered a thru hiker...ATC aside since they only see 2,000+ Milers doesnt come to bare. Since they only see the finished product...not the labeling of the hikers as such thru or section. Not if he would finish in a year or four months etc...but if he left the trail and came back later. Once your out of the green tunnel...your labeled again as being a section hiker. "End to End" means just that...you finish at one end of the A.T and start at another. Section is you leave the trail and restart at a later date. ODD Buzzard because alot of people have the trail to worry about...and being mislabeled so its a large concern for many.

[Hooch]

Once your out of the green tunnel...your labeled again as being a section hiker.

Really, who gives a crap about labels? Except maybe you. A hiker is a hiker is a hiker.

[max patch]

Words have meanings which is why we have dictionaries.

A "thru hike" does not have a 5 month gap. You are doing 2 long section hikes. I hope you enjoy both of them.

[DavidNH]

rdaviskiwi,

If you hike for a week in Georgia this autumn and then stop and resume your hike next March.. you are not a thru hiker. You can still get ATC recognition for hiking the 2000+ mile AT. By definition a through hiker is one who hikes the entire trail in one hiking season (one calendar year). You just won't be a thru hiker.

[Grampie]

No one is going to care where you started. If you stay with it long enough you can consider yourself whatever you want.
I first tryed to thru in 2000. Got to Fontana Dam and had to leave the trail with a bad stress fracture. Came back in 2001 to finish my hike. When folks asked, very few did, if I was a thru-hiker I would answer, "I'm just walking North." The other folks you meet won't care, they will consider you one of them and that will be a Thru-Hiker.

[Mr. BuffaloMan]

What difference does it make how many zeros a person takes. If you hike the entire trail in one year, I would consider you a thru hiker. Flip-flop, NOBO, SOBO, it doesn't matter. I took 28 zeros and I know hikers who took more than that and we were all thru hikers.

[max patch]

A zero day or two in town is a he77 of a lot different than a 150 day break.

[Tennessee Viking]

I say "Hike your own hike."

I have met plenty of people that start in November. Hike until Christmas time then come back in January or February. They usually want to put in some miles before the fall colors are gone, avoid snowy weather, or jump ahead of the crowd.I would classify them still as thru-hiker.

If there was a true strict code of being a thru hiker, anyone who jumps off the trail to go back home or take time off their hike (a week or month) but still completes the trail, even though its in the same year, is a section hiker. A thru-hike in this strict regard would be a single continuous trek. So Flip-Floppers would be section hikers too.

Then again in this strict regard, if you complete your hike by next October, you have thru-hiked the trail within one calendar years time.

[mdp9]

Hike your own hike! I would certainly call myself a thru hiker if I were you.

More importantly, you shouldn't feel the need to check with others if you are doing it the "right" way or not.

[IrishBASTARD]

I have said if you go home or leave the trail...your a section hiker. You cannot leave and come back at a whim...its just not right. If you want to lie to yourself FINE so be it...problem is people aka thru hikers break their backs. Should be shown the respect given to them...doing it at one long take. They drop everything to experience life...be in leave their job family friends behind to adventure. A section hiker does that for a short period of time...I will gladly call my self a thru hiker if and hopefully when I finish it. No disrespect to anyone but labels are there for people to understand...a thru is a thru throughtout http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thru-hiking

[tat44too]

I have said if you go home or leave the trail...your a section hiker. You cannot leave and come back at a whim...its just not right. If you want to lie to yourself FINE so be it...problem is people aka thru hikers break their backs. Should be shown the respect given to them...doing it at one long take. They drop everything to experience life...be in leave their job family friends behind to adventure. A section hiker does that for a short period of time...I will gladly call my self a thru hiker if and hopefully when I finish it. No disrespect to anyone but labels are there for people to understand...a thru is a thru throughtout http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thru-hiking

+1 I agree 100%